Naota Nandaba
Naota Nandaba (ナンダバ・ナオ太, Nandaba Naota), or Ta-kun as he is called by Mamimi and Haruko, is the protagonist of the original first season of FLCL, obsessed with appearing mature and nonchalant. He idolizes his older brother Tasuku, who represents for Naota what it means to be an "adult". He also has a crush on Haruko. Profile Naota Nandaba, 12, is the main character of the first season of FLCL. His name is derived from the Japanese word for "honesty" and his father named him Naota because of that, as stated in episode 1. Unbeknownst to him, he has the "right kind of head" to be used as an N.O. channel. Personality Naota is obsessed with appearing mature and attempts to act nonchalant at all times. This is most expressed in his monologues which open and close each episode where he continues to claim that "nothing amazing ever happens here", despite the show's surreal and often-absurd happenings. He is the least erratic of the cast, but constantly finds himself at the center of attention. He seems to be very frustrated with his life, and, in the opening episode, is musing about how uneventful and boring Mabase is. Naota is internally struggling with the recognition of his existence and independence from his brother. It is the journey of the series, however, that is the coming of age for Naota, and by the end, he has reached young adolescence, and is ready to start exploring life on his own. Appearance Naota has short, dark brown hair and blue eyes. The clothing he wears most often consists of a light blue sweatshirt with brown shorts, blue socks and brown sneakers. He also wears a variety of different hats and bandages to hide his horns throughout the series. Naota is short compared to others his age. When Naota fuses with Canti, he transforms into a glowing red sphere. As shown in episode 5, the sphere is apparently very hot, as Eri Ninamori had to spray water on it before Naota could return to his human form. It also appears to be very heavy, since it crashed into a billboard and cracked the center, then fell onto a building, making it shudder, before crashing onto the ground and creating a small crater. Relations Tasuku Naota idolizes his older brother Tasuku, carrying around Tasuku's baseball bat, and even hanging out with Tasuku's old girlfriend Mamimi. In Naota's mind, Tasuku is the epitome of what it means to be an adult, as opposed to the other adults in his life whom he perceives as being immature. Mamimi To Mamimi, Naota is little more than a plaything for her sexual frustrations. Usually he finds her to be immature and can be quite harsh to her. Despite this, he develops a crush on her but is confused about how to deal with it. When he finally realizes that Mamimi will never return his feelings, their relationship comes to a messy end. It is assumed they remain friends in the final episode. Haruko While at the beginning of the series Naota appears to be bothered by Haruko's presence, over the course of the series he realizes his own feelings and admits that he loves her, along with embracing her with a kiss, in the final episode. She leaves her bass with him when she leaves Earth, which he brings back to his room. Amarao Much like Amarao, Naota is picky about his drinks (disliking drinks which are sour or bitter) and hates spicy foods, though he is told to "cut back on the sour drinks" by Amarao. Naota is the first to realize that Amarao's eyebrows are fake. Amaro tries to make him wear a set in solidarity for both being Haruko's N.O. channels, but Naota does not keep them on. 1777.jpg FLCL 31.jpg NewtypeUSA 1.jpg Pack6.gif Trivia *Naota bears a certain resemblance to Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion . *He was also made by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto Category:Characters Category:Males